Car-coupling.



H.c.BuHouP-.

CAH COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 26, 191.6.

Patented 0013. 17, 1916. I

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

`H. c. BuHouP.

CAR couPLlNG, APPLICATION FILED MAY 26| 1916.

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HARRY C. BUHOUP, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE MCCONWAY 8c TOR/LEY COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

CAR-COUPLING.

Application med May 2e, i916.' seriai No. iodine.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY C. BUHoUr, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Couplings; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it apperta-ins to make and use the same.

My invention relates to the construction of car couplers, and has for its object the reinforcement of the coupler stem and the facilitation and simplification of repairs, as well as a reduction of expense where repairs be- C0111@ IleCeSSaI'y.

Car couplers, which are in general made of cast metal and of an integral construction, comprise a coupler head, a butt member for connection with the yoke of a draft rigging, and an intermediate stem member which connects the head and butt members.

Owing to thenecessarily limited cross sectional area of the coupler stem and to the fact that, in service, the coupler is subjected to violent shocks and great transverse as well l as longitudinal strains,l it results that the stem of a coupler is frequently broken, which necessitates.l the scrapping of the coupler as a whole and its total loss. 4

To overcome the liability of fracture ,of the stem, as Well as to facilitate repairs'and to minimize loss, Iform the coupler of a plurality of abutting, longitudinally disposed members combined with a spanner member or members of wrought metal, such for instance as rolled steel; and suchl a con-A Figure l is a plan view of a car coupler embodying my invention in its preferred form. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the cou-` pler shown in Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a cross section of the stem, taken on the line 3-3, Fig.` 2. Fig. 4; is a View in side elevation of the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patent-ea oct. i7, 191e.

butt of thel coupler and a portion of the stem adjacent thereto, showing a modification involvingra reduction in'the length of the spanner member of thecoupler. Fig. 5 is a cross section of the coupler stem, showing a modified form of spanner lmember. Fig. 6 is la plan view of a coupler, showing a modified arrangement of the spanner member with relation to the abutting members of the stem. Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the modification shown in Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a cross section of the modification lshown in Figs. 6 and 7, the section being taken on the line 8 8, Fig. 7

' Like symbols refer to like parts wherever they occur.

' In the drawings, A indicates the coupler head member, B the coupler butt member, and C the intermediate stem member which connects the head and butt members.

E indicates portions of the yoke member of a draft rigging with which the butt member B of the coupler is. connected by a pin inserted through the pin-holes e of the butt member.

The head and butt members, so far as their configurations are intended for effecting connections with coacting structures is concerned, may be of any well known character, but for reasons which will hereinafter appear I prefer to use a quadruple shear butt for connection with the yoke of a draft rigging.

1, 1 indicate the longitudinally disposed abutting stem members of the coupler, with one of which the coupler head A may be integral and with the other of which the butt member B may be integral. These members arei preferablyof forked form, or centrally slotted, as shown at 2 in Figs. l and 2, and in case of. a quadruple shear coupler butt the slot` in the stem portion adjacent thereto is preferably extended into the butt, as indicated in dotted lines lat 2a, Fig. 2 of the drawings, to thus permit the spanner member to reinforce the butt member. `But, if desired, the spanner may bea member 3a which terminates at the point of connection of the stem C and butt B, as indicated at 2b in Fig. 4. The abutting ends of the stem members l, 1, are preferably of tongue and groove form, as indicated at 2, in order that they may interlock and thus aord a greater conjoint action of the members 1, 1 in resisting lateral strains. In conjunction with the abutting stem members l, l, which usually are of cast metal, I employ a spanner member or Spanner members of wrought metal, as for instance rolled bars or plates of wrought iron or steel.

In the preferred construction shown in Figs. l, 2 and 3 of the drawings, where the Spanner member is centrally disposed, as at 3, only a single Spanner member will be required, and, as before noted, this may be extended into the butt member B,5as indicated at 2a. Also, if desired, this centrally disposed Spanner member may bea flanged structural steel shape, as for instance an Ibeam, as shown at 3b in the cross sectional view F ig. 5. In such case the stem members l, l will be recessed longitudinally, as at ln to accommodate the flanges of the I-beam, and with such a Spanner member the stem will have an added resistance to vertical strains, measurably proportionate to what would result in case the Spanner members were arranged with their greatest width set vertically rather than in the preferred horizontal position.

While a Structure in which the Stem members are slotted longitudinally is to be preferred, yet in case the abutting stem members are centrally disposed, as at 5 -in Figs. 6, 7 and 8 of the drawings, and the Spanner members are external thereto, as at 6, the structure may be lightened without loss of strength by coring the abutting stem members, provision being made for rivet thimbles 5a which serve as cross braces or supportingV posts for the hollow Stem members 5; and I also prefer to recess or countersink the outer faces of the stem members as at 5b for the reception of the Spanner members 6.

The abutting stem members l or 5 and the corresponding Spanner members 3, 3a, 3b or 6, as the case may be, after having been assembled as indicated in the drawings, are finally rigidly Secured by a Series of rivets or bolts 4;, 4 which complete a structure adapted to resist high transverse Strains and resultant fractures.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is: Y

1. A car coupler comprising. a plurality of abutting stem members, one having a coupler head integral therewith and another having a coupler butt member integral therewith1 a Spanner member which over# laps the stem members with whichthe coupler head and butt are integral, and means for rigidly connecting the Stem and. Spanner members.

2. A car coupler comprising a plurality of longitudinally slotted abutting stem members, one having a coupler head integral ther with and another having a coupler butt integral therewith, a centrally disposed Spanner member which overlaps the stem members with which the coupler head and butt are integral, and means for rigidly connecting the stem and Spanner members.

3. A car coupler comprising a plurality of longitudinally and centrally slotted abutlting stem members, one having a coupler head integral therewith and another having a coupler butt integral therewith, a centrally disposed Spanner member which overlaps the abutting stem members and eX- tends into the coupler butt member, and means for rigidly connecting the stem and Spanner members.

4. A car coupler comprising a plurality of abutting stem members having interlocking abutting faces, one of said Stem members having a coupler head integral therewith and another having a coupler butt integral therewith, a Spanner member which overlaps the stem members, and means for rigidly connecting the stem and Spanner members.

5. A car coupler comprising a plurality of abutting stem members, one of Said stem members having a coupler head integral therewith and another having a coupler butt integral therewith, a wrought metal spanner member which overlaps the abutting stem members, and means for rigidly connecting the stem and Spanner members.

6. A car coupler comprising a plurality of cast metal abutting stem members, one of Said stem members having a coupler head integral therewith and another having a butt member integral therewith, a wrought metal Spanner member which overlaps the abutting stem members, and means for rigidly connecting the stem and Spanner members.

7. A car coupler involving a plurality of stem members, one having a coupler head integral therewith, one having a coupler butt integral therewith, and one whose length eX- ceeds that of the first noted members, said last named member being` of wrought metal, the first-named members being arranged to abut and the last-named member being arranged to overlap the abutting members, and means for rigidly, connecting the several members comprising the stem.

8. A car coupler stem comprised of a plurality of longitudinally alined transversely abutting members, a Spanner member arranged in parallel relation with and overlapping the abutting members, and means for rigidly connecting the several members which comprise the coupler stem.

In testimony whereof I aiiiX my signature.

HARRY C. BUHOUP.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing' the Commissioner of Patent-s. Washington, D. C. 

